Trouble is brewing deep inside Safaricom, Kenya’s dominant telecommunications giant, where staff accounts point to a mounting crisis of confidence in the human resources leadership of Chief Human Resources Officer Florence Nyokabi. According to insider reports publicised by blogger Cyprian Nyakundi on 19 October 2026, employees describe an environment of unfair treatment, questionable dismissals and growing hostility. The same accounts estimate that the company is currently defending at least 40 employment cases in the courts, with potential liabilities approaching KSh 500 million should it lose the disputes over claims of illegal and wrongful terminations.
Nyokabi, who joined Safaricom in April 2024 from Standard Chartered Bank where she served as Managing Director of Human Resources for Nigeria and West Africa, brought more than 25 years of experience across local and multinational organisations in East, West and Southern Africa. She succeeded Paul Kasimu and has been credited in company communications with redefining the people agenda. Yet within roughly two and a half years, staff who spoke to Nyakundi allege she has overseen a surge in litigation that places substantial shareholder value at risk. Some employees further claim she has openly spoken of enjoying the backing of “Peter”, widely understood to refer to Group CEO Dr Peter Ndegwa, fostering a perception among sections of the workforce that she operates with limited accountability for decisions that affect livelihoods.
Public court records lend concrete weight to concerns about process and outcomes. In a high-profile matter involving former Chief Channels Officer Nicholas Kamunyu, the Employment and Labour Relations Court in October 2025 awarded KSh 5 million in damages after finding breaches of constitutional rights to fair labour practices, fair administrative action and a fair hearing under Articles 41, 47 and 50. Kamunyu, a senior executive whose role covered a significant portion of the company’s workforce, was suspended in January 2025 amid investigations into an EDMS contract with Baran Telecom Networks that the company linked to a loss of approximately USD 2.2 million. The court held that the disciplinary process was flawed: the suspension was issued by the HR function rather than the line manager contrary to internal policy, he was given only 24 hours to respond to a voluminous investigation report without full access to systems or documents, and he was denied proper opportunities to cross-examine witnesses. He was summarily dismissed in late March 2025 while related proceedings remained ongoing. Florence Nyokabi was among senior officers named in a subsequent contempt application alleging that the company continued disciplinary steps in breach of earlier court orders restraining intimidation or multiple processes; that contempt application was dismissed in July 2025, with the court finding the later actions related to a distinct matter. Nyokabi has also sworn affidavits on the company’s behalf in the litigation.
The Kamunyu award aligns with the roughly KSh 5 million figure cited in the staff accounts for a former senior executive in the consumer-linked division over constitutional rights violations. Broader public records show Safaricom has faced other substantial employment judgments in recent years, including a 2025 decision ordering payment of more than Sh55 million (plus interest and costs) to 17 former Area Sales Managers found to have been unlawfully dismissed in connection with failures in a 2018 electronic subscriber registration project. While that earlier case predates Nyokabi’s tenure, the pattern of litigation continuing under her watch has sharpened questions about whether internal safeguards are preventing disputes from reaching the courts in the first place.
For a publicly listed company whose performance underpins dividends, pensions and the broader Kenyan economy, the reported scale of exposure matters. Defending dozens of cases incurs legal costs that ultimately fall on shareholders. When courts find procedural defects or award damages for rights violations, the financial and reputational consequences compound. Ordinary employees, whose careers and family incomes depend on fair process, bear the personal cost when dismissals are later ruled unlawful. Shareholders and the board are now being pressed, including in the circulating accounts, to demand clearer accounting: how many active employment cases exist, what has already been spent defending them, what the realistic residual exposure is, and whether the current HR leadership has the systems and independence required to reverse the trajectory.
Safaricom has not issued a detailed public response to the specific claims of 40 cases and near-KSh 500 million exposure as of 21 October 2026. The allegations rest on insider accounts channelled through Nyakundi, whose reporting has previously drawn both strong engagement and accusations of pressure tactics. Yet the existence of multiple public judgments involving the company, the explicit naming of Nyokabi in court papers, and the timing of her tenure mean the questions of accountability, process integrity and financial risk will not simply disappear. For Kenya’s most valuable listed firm, the cost of unresolved employment disputes is no longer merely an internal HR matter. It is a shareholder and governance issue that ordinary Kenyans, as customers, investors and employees, have reason to watch closely.
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